Coronavirus cases in the US topped 1 million in late April. Although total numbers of cases and deaths change daily and vary greatly among urban vs rural regions of the country, it’s safe to say we haven’t yet seen the last of the surges. Despite ongoing shortages of personal protective…

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Although COVID-19 cases are still emerging in many parts of the country, some businesses have reopened and some elective procedures are once again being performed. Many events that did not take place in the spring will be held in the fall, including the annual OR Manager Conference, September 30 to…

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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic that led the United States to declare a national emergency and implement a ban on all elective diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, as well as elective surgery in inpatient and outpatient settings. On March 19, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) released guidance…

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It’s been said we live in a sharing economy: We share our homes through companies like Airbnb, and we share our cars through companies like Uber and Lyft. So it’s not surprising that organizations are now sharing equipment, including OR equipment, with positive results. For example, Kaiser Permanente Southern California…

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Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) is arguably the greatest advancement in surgery in the last 20 years. But even healthcare leaders who support the use of ERAS to achieve better outcomes can find it daunting to implement the protocols throughout their hospital systems. Standardizing practices across areas that have historically…

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Federal regulators have yet to mandate electronic health record (EHR) adoption at ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Many facilities remain content to use paper systems. However, one expert advocates preparing now for what may come in the future. Electronic documentation systems can help ASCs better achieve their clinical, financial, operational, and…

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Editor's Note Treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients with anticoagulants may improve their chances of survival, this study from Mount Sinai finds. Of 2,773 COVID-19 patients analyzed, 786 received a full-treatment dose of anticoagulants, which was a higher dose than that typically given for clot prevention; it is one usually given to…

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Editor's Note Researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago are using artificial intelligence (AI) to expedite the search for COVID-19 treatments and vaccines by shortening the expert review period. The AI tool prioritizes research that has the most potential to produce real solutions and ignores research that is unlikely to yield…

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Editor's Note The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on May 1 announced that it will begin the distribution of payments from the Provider Relief Fund to hospitals with large numbers of COVID-19 admissions and to rural providers. Payments of $12 billion will go to 395 hospitals with at…

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Editor's Note The spread of COVID-19 in the US could result in hundreds of billions of dollars in direct medical costs, according to this study partially funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Using AHRQ data and other sources, researchers developed computer models to simulate the financial…

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